Question: I accidentally stumbled across your website and I must say the questions are very detailed and it is quite refreshing to know that I am not the only woman who faces questions about her anatomy. I am 30 years old and fairly healthy. Lately I have been experiencing a lump on the right side of my vagina and it is not a cyst. For example, I was urinating one day and felt a lump on the right side only of the lip of my vagina. I begin to pull the two lips apart and as I did the right side was largely swollen but the left lip felt normal in shape and size.

Why would my right lip have a different size? Oh yeah I slowly inserted my index finger inside my vagina and it would not go in. Later that night both lips were normal size. Why is this fluctuating in size?

Answer: There are two Bartholin glands located near the entrance to the vagina, one on each side. The exact function of these glands is not known, but they do produce fluid. It is possible that one is becoming infected. Treatment of a sudden and short term but severe infection includes antibiotics, painkillers, and heat. An abscess, a collection of pus, of the Bartholin gland presents as a painful, egg shaped, tender mass in the lower portion of the labia, on either side of the vaginal opening. Treatment of the abscess is incision and drainage.

If these inflammations continue or do not go away quickly, please see your doctor.

Be sure your clothing is not too tight and irritating your vulvar tissues.